{"id":3375,"date":"2012-10-04T16:09:15","date_gmt":"2012-10-04T23:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/?p=3375"},"modified":"2023-03-03T09:50:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T17:50:19","slug":"startup-angel-investment-silicon-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canary.kcprod.info/blog\/startup-angel-investment-silicon-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"Advice On Angel Investing \u2026 and Other Advice, Too"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everywhere I go in Silicon Valley I hear people discussing their angel investments. The conversations remind me of fish stories. People love recounting the one time they caught a big fish, not the many futile hours they spent waiting for a bite.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Andy

Andy Rachleff, president & CEO, Wealthfront<\/p><\/div>\n

That\u2019s how Andy Rachleff, Wealthfront\u2019s president & CEO, began a recent post<\/a> on TechCrunch about whether or not becoming an angel investor is a good idea. Andy, a co-founder of Benchmark Capital and a faculty member at Stanford University Graduate School of Business, used his knowledge of the venture capital business and seed investing to make the case that it\u2019s terrifically difficult for an angel investor to make money because seed investments are so risky. His advice:<\/p>\n

My conclusion is that unless you are Andy Bechtolsheim, legendary founder of Sun Microsystems, Granite Systems and Arista Networks, and can have the pick of the best technical founders in the Valley, or you are a member of the Paypal Mafia, you should not be an angel investor. A few elites have a chance of making money. The rest of you are in for pretty dismal results. \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the ultimate lesson from the fish stories in Silicon Valley. True fishermen cast their lines not because they want the fish, but because they like fishing. It\u2019s fine to be an angel investor \u2013 just don\u2019t do it for the money.<\/em><\/p>\n

Andy\u2019s piece, which has been widely shared across Twitter, Facebook and other social media, grew out of the recognition by Wealthfront\u2019s team that people who make money in an IPO or an acquisition seek advice about becoming an angel. Investing is part of the culture of Silicon Valley; some of us have been angels ourselves, or have friends who are. We recognized the need for a good, research-based approach to the question of what to expect as an angel investor and what the odds are of seeing good returns.<\/p>\n

Over the past few months, you\u2019ve seen us broaden the information available here, so that we\u2019re no longer discussing just investment management; now we\u2019re looking at Silicon Valley\u2019s entire financial lifecycle. We\u2019ve answered questions including How Do I Choose Where To Work<\/a>? We\u2019ve also looked at What To Do After A Lockup Expires<\/a>, and When To Sell Your Employee Stock<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The broader range of topics reflects our evolution from a software-based investment service into a full-service software-based financial advisor for Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re delighted for people to reach out to us \u2013 tweet us\u00a0@wealthfront<\/a>\u00a0with questions you\u2019d like us to answer.<\/p>\n

Andy\u2019s post on TechCrunch and the other pieces we\u2019ve written are examples of the way Wealthfront\u2019s research and our team\u2019s knowledge about financial life in Silicon Valley can benefit the tech community. Now, we want to know more about what\u2019s on your mind, and how we can help you. Please be in touch \u2013 and if you\u2019ve found our information valuable, please share it with your friends and co-workers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everywhere I go in Silicon Valley I hear people discussing their angel investments. The conversations remind me of fish stories. People love recounting the one time they caught a big fish, not the many futile hours they spent waiting for a bite. That\u2019s how Andy Rachleff, Wealthfront\u2019s president & CEO, began a recent post on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":7245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1282],"tags":[1698,1301,1386,1600],"coauthors":[84],"class_list":["post-3375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-angel-investing","tag-investing-mistakes","tag-silicon-valley","tag-young-investors"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAdvice On Silicon Valley Angel Investing | Wealthfront<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Should you make an angel investment? 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